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ANNA, Ohio (CNN) -- Many people in the diner know someone working in the car industry. They are certainly in car country -- there's an engine factory down the road, and they live between Ohio's major plants and the Detroit home of the industry.


Will Vetter believes bankruptcy could be the best solution for a company like GM to make changes.

1 of 3 You don't have to go far in any direction to find a threatened auto plant. But the diners and staff do not back a proposed $25 billion bailout.

The car industry in their neighborhood is doing well -- the Honda engine plant in Anna, Ohio, sits amid lots crowded with employee vehicles, ringed by carefully trimmed trees and endless farm fields beyond. It recently underwent a $75 million, 135,000-square-foot expansion.

The success of the factory, which Honda says has built 15 million engines from scratch since it opened 23 years ago, has been spread beyond Anna, which lies in western Ohio between Dayton and Toledo.

"Honda's really helped this area as far as housing, retail sales, the restaurant business," said Tim Rogers, who has owned the Inn Between Tavern in Botkins, just up the road from Anna, for 33 years.

"People who are in here at night are also Honda employees. They have more money to spend. My business has been good since Honda came into the area."

The Inn Between's waitress is busy delivering the lunch special of breaded chicken, mashed potatoes and green beans to a stream of customers who work at different places but all seem to know one another. Hear what the diners think of a bailout »

The banter is raucous and sustained, and when the conversation turns to a proposed federal bailout for U.S. automakers, there is little support for the idea. Watch CEOs ask Congress to help the auto industry »


"I don't think they should bail them out because ... obviously something's not right in the way they're running their business, and why should the American people have to bail them out if they can't figure out how to do it right?" September Quinn, the busy waitress, said after the lunch rush at the Inn Between.

She holds the unions just as accountable as the companies for the industry's problems.

"People agree with the unions because the workers want to be backed on everything, but then again, there aren't people striving to do their job better," said Quinn, whose father works at the nonunion Honda plant. "They've just got Papa Bear to back them up in any instance, and they keep their job. And you can do that, but I don't know at the cost of what."

John Lenhart, a consultant with Plastipak Packaging in Jackson Center, Ohio, and an officer with the Sidney-Shelby County Chamber of Commerce, said any bailout should have strong strings attached.

"Unless I'm missing something here, the key to it is, they should put in a game plan and execute it, with serious restraints and serious reorganization," said Lenhart, a former five-term sheriff in Anna's Shelby County.

His Plastipak colleague Will Vetter also said any bailout should have strings attached. See how many plants GM has in your state »

"If you just give them money, you will get same-old, same-old results," he said after lunch at the Inn Between. "They're not prepared to downsize their businesses fast enough and to eliminate their costs at a rate that will make them profitable."

Vetter suggested that bankruptcy would allow GM to make significant changes faster, because a judge could void labor and supplier contracts, debts could be restructured, and Congress would not be involved.

"I guarantee in bankruptcy you can move really fast. You're only dealing with one person. You don't have three or four hundred people you're towing along at half-speed."

Both men said the nation and its auto industry will find a way to survive no matter what happens to GM.

"The country's got some ills, but we'll heal up," Lenhart said. "We'll be all right."

Should Congress bail out the Big Three? Here's what lawmakers are considering and what's at stake.

Last Updated: November 17, 2008: 3:57 AM ET


NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- For more than a century, the U.S. auto industry has been at the center of the American industrial economy. Events over the next month could determine if that remains the case.

This week, Congress will consider whether to cough up billions of dollars to bail out the troubled companies.

There are loud advocates with strong arguments on both sides.

Proponents of a bailout say that the industry is a victim of the global financial crisis. Wall Street has been bailed out, so why not Detroit?

They say millions of jobs could be lost and more than $100 billion in wages sliced out of an already-fragile U.S. economy.

"It would be a travesty for the irresponsible, reckless behavior of Wall Street to result in the sweeping away of the American automobile industry," said Mike Jackson, CEO of Autonation, the nation's largest auto dealership group. "If indeed it came to bankruptcy, it's going to make what happened with Lehman Brothers and all the consequences of that a nice day."

On the other side are those who feel just as strongly that the automakers' problems are their own doing, born of bad business decisions, uncompetitive labor agreements and vehicles that Americans have decided are second-rate.

They say a bailout will only postpone the inevitable, and that the failure of one or more of the companies is necessary if the economy is to work properly.

"The Big Three's financial straits are not the product of our current economic downturn, but instead are the legacy of the uncompetitive structure of their manufacturing and labor force," said Sen. Richard Shelby, R-Ala., the ranking member of the Senate Banking Committee. "I do not support the use of U.S taxpayer dollars to reward the mismanagement of Detroit-based auto manufacturers."

Indeed, opposition to a bailout is widespread. GM and the other Detroit automakers are trying to win support from an American public that has largely turned their back on them. Sales by the U.S. companies account for only 47% of domestic sales this year, according to sales tracker Autodata.

Whatever Congress decides, it'll have to act fast. General Motors (GM, Fortune 500) has warned that by the end of the year it will have run down down its cash close to the minimum amount needed to operate. The status of Ford Motor (F, Fortune 500) and Chrysler LLC aren't as precarious, but both have joined their larger rival and the United Auto Workers union in asking for help for the industry.

What's on the table
An automaker rescue will be at the top of the lame-duck session of Congress. The Senate Banking Committee will hold a hearing on the issue on Tuesday and the House Financial Services Committee on Wednesday.

The battle lines are clear.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif, and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., have said they want the government to help the companies and that the funding should come out of the $700 billion bailout plan passed by Congress last month.

The Bush administration, led by Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson, has steadfastly resisted calls to use the bailout funds for the automakers. The White House wants to use money from a $25 billion loan program aimed at helping automakers convert production to more fuel-efficient vehicles.

"We want to see legislation passed at this week's lame-duck session that uses existing funds intended for the automakers that will help them become viable for the long run," White House spokeswoman Dana Perino said Saturday. "We need to conserve the [$700 billion bailout] money for its intended purpose, stabilizing and strengthening our financial system."

GM executives say the $25 billion loan money would come with enough strings attached to it that they are not sure it can be used to solve their cash crisis.

It's unclear how the issue will play out on Capitol Hill. The current Congress is a holdover - it's not the one that will be made up of lawmakers that won in a Democratic landslide on Nov. 4. President-elect Barack Obama has voiced his support for the automakers, but he has not signaled specifically how he thinks such help should take shape.

And GOP opposition to a bailout is strong. Republican House members defeated the Wall Street bailout on its first vote in September, despite strong support from Republican leadership and the Bush administration. Even some leading Democrats who back help for the automakers sounded pessimistic about chances for an aid package.

"I'm not sure the votes are there next week," said Sen. Christopher Dodd, D-Conn., chairman of the Senate Banking Committee.

What happens if there's no bailout
General Motors has the most at stake. There seems little doubt that GM will file for bankruptcy without a large cash infusion by the end of the year. The company ended the third quarter with about $16 billion on hand, but it needs $11 billion to $14 billion to continue normal operations. It burned through $7 billion in the third quarter.

What happens after a bankruptcy is a topic of debate.

GM executives, while refusing to discuss the chance of a bankruptcy filing, say that buyers would be unwilling to buy from a bankrupt automaker because of fears about resale value and warranties.

The company, along with credit analysts, has also questioned whether it could get financing to reorganize while in bankruptcy.

If GM were unable to pay its bills, it could be forced to liquidate and sell off assets rather than reorganize. And if it can't pay its creditors, auto parts suppliers would suffer and many would likely fail.

"The domino effect would be immense," said Deborah Thorn, a bankruptcy attorney who represents auto parts makers. "You can't afford to produce parts if you're not being paid."

And because the automakers have so much overlap in their supplier base, a closure at one parts maker could cause GM rivals to shut plants as well.

The Center for Automotive Research, an Ann Arbor, Mich., think tank pushing for a bailout, estimates a loss of nearly 2.5 million jobs if just half of the Big Three manufacturing capacity were shuttered - a possible scenario if GM files for protection.

About 240,000 of those job losses would be at the automakers, while 800,000 would be at various suppliers and dealerships. The other 1.4 million job losses would be at businesses that rely on automaker spending.

For example, the Big Three have made deep cuts in their advertising budgets. That is already fueling media industry layoffs. Reduced spending by auto company employees who lose their jobs would hurt stores and other businesses in cities where plants are located.

But some bailout critics argue that bankruptcy is the best solution. They believe that despite tight credit markets, GM should be able to find the financing it needs to stay in business, even after a bankruptcy. They say that consumers could be convinced to buy a car from a bankrupt company as long as the warranty is backed by a third party.

And they point out that other companies, such as airlines and steelmakers, have survived bankruptcy.

Still, bankruptcy would be tough. It would mean shedding numerous brands and probably thousands of dealerships, and entail closing plants and laying off tens of thousands of hourly workers.

The advocates of a bailout insist that the risk of failure is too great - that even the best case scenario for bankruptcy would be too great a shock to the struggling U.S. economy. The critics of federal help say a bailout would be throwing good money after bad - something the government can't afford to do after already promising close to a trillion dollars for other bailouts. Stay tuned.

Democratic Congressional leaders said in a letter to Treasury Secretary Paulson that the bailout should be expanded to include the struggling auto industry.

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Democratic leaders in Congress asked the Bush administration on Saturday to provide more aid to the struggling auto industry, which is bleeding cash and jobs.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said in a letter to Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson that the administration should consider expanding the $700 billion bailout to include car companies.

"A healthy automobile manufacturing sector is essential to the restoration of financial market stability, the overall health of our economy, and the livelihood of the automobile sector's work force," they wrote. "The economic downturn and the crisis in our financial markets further imperiled our domestic automobile industry and its work force."

The administration did not offer direct comment on the request to broaden the $700 billion financial industry bailout so automakers could get a share. Treasury Department spokeswoman Brookly McLaughlin said the department is working on ways to most effectively use the remaining dollars in the rescue to strengthen the financial system and get lending moving again.

Automakers already want an additional $50 billion in loans from Congress to help them survive tough economic conditions and pay for health care obligations for retirees. The companies are seeking the loans as part of an economic aid plan that is now more likely to come together early next year rather than in a postelection session of Congress this month.

Top executives of General Motors (GM, Fortune 500), Ford (F, Fortune 500), Chrysler LLC and the president of the United Auto Workers met with congressional leaders Thursday to discuss the loans. The money would be on top of the $25 billion in loans that Congress passed in September to help retool auto plants to build more fuel-efficient vehicles.

"We left the meetings convinced that our nation's automobile industry -- the heart of our manufacturing sector -- and the jobs of tens of thousands of American workers are at risk," Pelosi, D-Calif., and Reid, D-Nev., said in their letter to Paulson.

If Congress approved more loans, it would come with strings attached. Potential protections include limits on executive compensation, awarding the government preferred stock in the companies and a suspension of dividend payments to investors.

GM, the nation's largest automaker, warned Friday that it may run out of money by the end of the year after piling up billions in third-quarter losses and burning through cash at an alarming rate. Ford is in better shape because the company borrowed billions of dollars in 2007 by mortgaging its factories. The company said it had enough cash to make it through 2009.

"We must safeguard the interests of American taxpayers, protect the hundreds of thousands of automobile workers and retirees, stop the erosion of our manufacturing base, and bolster our economy," Pelosi and Reid wrote.

President-elect Obama said Friday his transition team would explore policy options to help the auto industry. Obama's economic transition team includes two allies of the auto industry -- Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm and former Rep. David Bonior, D-Mich.

Sen. Carl Levin, D-Mich., said in an interview he was hopeful the administration would view the $700 billion bailout as flexible enough to include the auto industry. But he said Democrats and Republicans in Michigan's congressional delegation were writing an amendment to the bailout law that would provide the $25 billion in loans.

"It's inexcusable that they not see the importance of the auto industry to the economy," Levin said.

Levin said relying on the loan program for the development of fuel-efficient vehicles was not a practical way to help the domestic companies deal with their financial troubles. "It's too slow in the payout," Levin said.

In a statement, Chrysler said the company would continue to urge Congress and the Bush administration to immediately address the liquidity crisis facing the automotive industry due to the economic downturn and the lack of available financing for dealers and customers.

GM and Ford also issued statements Saturday urging the government to help the auto industry in light of the economic downturn. "A critical portion of the U.S. economy rests on the industry's shoulders," said GM spokesman Greg Martin.

Automakers' $25 Billion Fast-Track Bailout

The incoming Obama Administration is determined to help the U.S. auto industry survive the deepening recession. And with General Motors, Ford, and Chrysler hanging on by threads, there is little pressure so far to have auto executives give something in return, except perhaps a promise to preserve jobs. The only questions that remain, say those close to and on the President-elect's transition team, is how the help materializes—and when.

Obama said in remarks at a press conference Friday, Nov. 7: "I have made it a high priority for my transition team to work on additional policy options to help the auto industry adjust, weather the financial crisis, and succeed in producing fuel-efficient cars here in the United States. I have asked my team to explore what we can do under current law and whether additional legislation will be needed for this purpose."

...

A REPORT ON THE BIG THREE'S DEMISE

Granholm and the auto executives who have been lobbying Congress for help have been drawing on a report produced recently by the Center for Automotive Research (CAR) in Ann Arbor, Mich., for ammunition. The report from CAR—which gets some of its funding from the auto companies—projects the impact of all three U.S. auto companies ceasing operations in the U.S. Alternatively, it projects the fallout from a 50% reduction in the industry that might be brought about by the elimination of one or two companies.

The dire findings include the following:

• Should all of the Detroit Three's U.S. operations cease in 2009, the first-year total employment impact would be a loss of nearly 3 million jobs in the U.S. economy—including 239,341 direct job losses at the three auto companies; 973,969 secondary jobs at auto supply companies; and more than 1.7 million jobs at other employers from the reduced spending by those jobless workers. The employment picture would recover somewhat in 2010 and 2011, due to increased U.S. production by foreign-based automakers and dislocated workers finding new jobs.

• Even if just one or more of the auto companies goes down, the first-year losses would still be nearly 2.5 million jobs in the U.S. in the first year before coming back somewhat in the second and third years. That's because the domino effect of one major automaker going under would push several financially fragile auto suppliers into insolvency, which would interrupt production at the remaining car companies.

• In economic terms, a 50% cut in the Detroit Three's U.S. operations would reduce personal income by more than $125.1 billion in the first year, and $275.7 billion over three years.

CAR Chairman David Cole, one of the authors of the study, says legislators and members of the public who doubt the U.S. auto industry is worth saving "should realize the costs of it failing are far greater than the $25 billion in loans the industry is seeking."

Without an injection of cash or a bridge loan from the government, GM's $16.2 billion in cash could shrink by the end of this year to the minimum the company needs to run the business. Analysts say that minimal amount is between $10 billion and $12 billion.

artista Escreveu:domhenri, ainda bem que estás cá tu para nos explicar isso, afinal que novo sistema vem aí?! o teu post é pior que a afirmação do ministro da economia quando disse "os tempos de properidade acabaram" e é um bocado ao jeito do outro que dizia "vocês sabem do que eu estou a falar" mas não concretizava nada...

Não compreendi o que quiseste dizer com o teu comentário?! as bolsas vão fechar?! vamos ter novos sistemas politicos e financeiros?

Penso que muita coisa terá de mudar, muitas reformas terão de ser feitas mas duvido que os sistemas financeiros mudem tanto quanto isso!

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